2004 Honda Accord: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed May 18, 2021 · Transmission · OH · crash · 1 injury

Transmission seems to disengage after 20 minutes of driving and the worse bthong about it is it does it on the highway causing me to pull over shit the car off and wait 5 minutes start it back up put it in the gear and sometimes it doesn't go in the gear it won't go into reverse we'll go in the drive we'll go in the drive 3 won't go in the drive to or one and then I got to shut it off and wait again then I do it all over again and then I'll get driving again and after about 3 minutes 4 minutes it'll do it again and I have to pull over why is it doing this it does it when I'm stopped at a stoplight and when the light turns green I drive and I'll get stuck in the middle of an intersection it'll be in drive but the engine just continues to rev and nothing happens it's scary it's on safe this needs to be a recall this needs to be fixed by Honda s*** it should be obvious that somebody could get killed

Filed Apr 7, 2016 · Acceleration, Transmission · 54,000 miles · NM

4 cylinder automatic transmission started slipping during acceleration from a complete stop. Transmission would cause the car to her forward when breaking and after coming to a complete stop. The transmission completely failed at just over 54,000 miles and will not upshift. The car will only go about 20 MPH, when the accelerator is engaged, it only revs up the engine and the vehicle redlines, the transmission will not shift into a higher gear.

Filed Feb 22, 2015 · Acceleration, Transmission · 115,000 miles · CA

As I was driving my car would not shift gears . Specifically, I was driving on the freeway the car went from 60 MPH down to 35 MPH and would not slip into gear. This happened as I tried to accelerate to merge onto another freeway. It seemed as though the car was stuck in neutral which it was not. This was very dangerous because as other vehicles were traveling at high speeds my car nearly came to a halt on the freeway. Luckily, I prayed my way into gear and it worked. It was quite scary since I was traveling with my child I easily could of been rear ended. No sensor lights turned on, there were no warning lights. My car has been serviced routinely and 2 days later it happened again. It is now at the dealership. When I read up on the problem it seems to be common. On one site I saw over 200 complaints for the same complaints and same make of the car. I can only imagine how many more complaints there have been. I hope that the federal agency and honda act responsibly and pay for the recall on these transmission problems.

Filed Sep 4, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 78,061 miles · CA

While I were driving locals, I notice a sudden drop in speed and spike in RPM. When I tried to accelerate, only RPM would go up and the car would not shift to higher gear. This happened without any warnings. No engine light. Nothing. If this happened in the freeway, it would have been very serious situation. I also noticed numerous 2003 2004 honda accord owners to have similar problems. This is definitely manufacturer's fault. I had to rebuild the transmission which came out to be $1820. This is serious situation.

Filed Sep 3, 2013 · Transmission · 94,505 miles · WI

I was driving my 2004 accord home through the city (speeds of 30 MPH or less). I had gone about 5 miles without a problem. Suddenly, I heard an annoying car revving it's engine, only to realize it was my car! It felt as if it were slipping and then it was driving as if it was stuck in first. I could not get it to go above 20 MPH. I could not pull over due to bike lanes and heavy traffic. Eventually the vehicle was only going 15 MPH -- it would not go higher. I pulled onto a side street, put the vehicle in park, and could not get it to move. Then, several warning lights popped up. After restarting the vehicle I was able to drive it the last mile of my trip, still in the 15-20 MPH. I had it towed to the dealership. They indicated the transmission needs to be replaced to the tune of $5450. I had not had any problems with the transmission prior to 8/29/13 and I had kept up on all regular maintenance. In fact, I'd always taken it to the dealership. I never received any information about a recall for this part (although I did receive one for the power steering hose). After 8/29/13, I read that several honda models (including this one) were recalled for transmission defects. The dealer and american honda are currently alleging that mine was not part of it, but it appears that it was.

Filed Dec 19, 2012 · Transmission · 143,944 miles · WA

The car initially would stick with a brief pause when shifted from reverse to forward. Several days later while driving on the freeway the car suddenly began to slow between 30-40 miles an hour. In order to get home we had to turn off the car and then restart and coast. In an effort to transport to our mechanic the car would not go in reverse and would not go into drive so we had to tow it in neutral to the shop. The mechanic was able to verify how the transmission fluid was black and smelled burnt. His prognosis was that I will need a new transmission. Within the past couple of months I had the car in the shop because of engine noise. It was thought to be the transmission and further diagnostics revealed the idler tensioner pulleys had to be replaced. At the time computer diagnostics revealed no problems with the transmission and the fluid was fine as well.

Filed Aug 29, 2012 · Transmission · 76,500 miles · PA

My car started bucking about two weeks after I had it inspected in july. Also the drive light was blinking and the check maintenance light came on. At one point I was alone and far from home and the car would not go into reverse. I contacted a mechanic I know well who told me there was a safety issue and that I should try to drive the car to the transmission place he recommended. For several miles the car bucked and I wasn't sure whether I would get there or not, but I did. Very scary. Not sure this sure happen with a car that only has 76,500 miles on it and I am the only owner.

Filed Feb 14, 2012 · Transmission · 129,000 miles · NY

While driving on a highway at 60 miles an hour the transmission failed and the car jerked and lurched down to 35 miles an hour. It was as if the automatic transmission went to neutral at 7000 RPM's then would not increase above 3rd gear. Transmission fluid was changes in accordance with the maintenance schedule. After that incident, the car was driving fine for two days. Brought the car for inspection at a honda dealer who told me the transmission was fine. Four days later, while driving on the highway again traveling at 55-65 miles an hour the transmission gave out again. Except this time the car will not go into gear at all. It smelled as if my transmission was burning. I'm told the transmission failed and I need a new transmission. The failure occurred seemingly out of nowhere while traveling at high speeds. I was lucky the failure did not occur during rush hour traffic otherwise I could have been involved in a serious accident.

Filed Oct 30, 2011 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · AZ

Just hit the 100,000 mark on this accord. The transmission is out and will not shift into gear. It just stopped while driving. Thank goodness this did not happen on the freeway. Hondas are supposed to go forever, but this seems to be a common problem. The recall apparently did not fix the transmission problem. I will not be buying or recommending honda again.

Filed Sep 8, 2011 · Transmission · 109,000 miles · MA

I have a 2004 v6 accord with 110,000 miles and had a previous throttle position sensor replaced a year ago b/c the tranny did not shift down into lower gear intermittently on highway. Now I have the opposite problem, where tranny doesn't shift up into overdrive. So there is another sensor problem. Turning off/on the car resets it. But local mechanic said test drive showed jerkiness from 1 to 2nd gear, and I've always noticed/ignored a judder from high gear to low gear, e.g., slowing down at off ramp. And he said the tranny fluid looked burnt. And there is an emissions controller fault and leak too. The recall for 2004 transmissions does not include my VIN...and reading the nyt blog from jan 2011, suggests it might not have been a good recall fix anyway. But in my call to dealer service dept and to honda n.america, they came across very defensive people on phone. Can't see buying another honda again.

Filed Jul 12, 2011 · Transmission · 127,000 miles · MN · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 honda accord. The contact was driving 60 MPH when the tachometer malfunctioned and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle would not shift between gears and the vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer advised that the transmission had failed due to burned transmission fluid caused by excessive heat. The dealer did not replace the transmission. The failure mileage was 127,000.

Filed Nov 23, 2010 · Transmission · 90,900 miles · MN

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 honda accord. While driving approximately 50 MPH the vehicle shifted in neutral on its own. She stated that the vehicle shifted back into drive on its own in less than a minute. After reaching her destination she parked the vehicle and within a few hours she stated that the vehicle began to function normally, but as she continued to drive the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the vehicle would not shift into second gear. The manufacturer and dealer were willing to pay 50 percent of the repair cost to replace the transmission. She referenced recall 04v176000, power train:automatic transmission and stated that her VIN was not part of the recall per the manufacturer. The failure and current mileages were 90,900.